Back in the early 1900s free speech was a cherished Josephine County value, but listeners tended to judge whether a specific speech was the responsible use of that right. Long before the internet and social media came on the scene, a soapbox in downtown Grants Pass served as a place to exercise the right to have your say. These speakers often gathered a crowd of curious citizens who let the speaker know if he was out of bounds, as the following story illustrates.
According to the Rogue River Courier an "anarchist of the red-haired type” showed up in July of 1910 and began a speech on Sixth Street in front of the Layton Hotel. Those listening lost patience when the speaker started referring to the "Father of this country" as a thief and calling ex-president Teddy Roosevelt a murderer. The speaker, sensing unrest in his audience, quickly departed, saying he would finish Wednesday. When Wednesday came an eager audience was in place but the red-haired speaker didn't show up. His assistant, a local man known as "Gold Teeth," did show up and took the stand himself to continue the rant. Shortly after beginning his speech, Gold Teeth asked for a glass of water. Someone thought that was a good excuse to turn a nearby hose on him. After that the man was pelted with stale eggs intended for the first speaker. He fled after most of the spoiled eggs had been broken on him. The newspaper said it was an "outrage which should be punished" but there were no arrests.
Today inappropriate speech is sometimes excused by those who cite the First Amendment but don’t acknowledge that rights and freedoms come with responsibility. In 1910 calling former U.S. presidents thieves and a murderers without proof was an irresponsible use of free speech, according to the citizens of Grants Pass. Those 1910 citizens may have been equally appalled at a future Grants Pass City Councilor’s defense of a city committee member who ranted about a former U.S. president, to the point where someone turned him in to the F.B.I.
Councilor Victoria Marshall gave the following speech at the August 6 City Council meeting where the committee member had been on the agenda for a vote to dismiss him from his seat for inappropriate comments. The committee member resigned before the vote, but Marshall wanted to have her say anyway.
“We were gonna have a vote tonight to remove someone and there were some comments about that from the audience as well. And for me it wasn’t a tough vote at all and so I wasn’t going to say anything; it was not a tough vote for me at all. I would not have voted to remove someone from uhh…..I don’t believe the government has the right to remove someone from a seat for a speech, even speech that I totally want to qualify and say that I found divisive and did not serve the public discourse whatsoever. But I did research, but I did research and there are three Supreme Court cases and one that even addressed someone who didn’t, you don’t, the argument came up that people did not have the right to be on a committee but there was a Supreme Court case that went against that sentiment so I just wanted to take a moment to speak up for free speech. The United States Supreme Court has said three times that government may not remove people from a position for their speech. So I think that just might be something that we think about in the future. I think it’s also probably appropriate as, as someone said, I don’t know, that there should be a code of conduct for any committee. That might be a good idea but I would defend the speech rights of someone who posted similar comments from the other side of the political spectrum because the First Amendment should not bend to political affiliation even when it is speech that we find repugnant and uh, and that is what the First Amendment actually exists for. So I just wanted to bring that up because it wasn’t a tough vote for me. I would not have voted because I think it goes against the Constitution. So I really wanted to say that.”
Marshall did not cite which Supreme Court decisions she was referring to and did not mention the prominent list of “Responsibilities of Volunteers,” that anyone applying for a committee position must acknowledge with a signature. She didn’t acknowledge that list when she said a code of conduct for a committee member might be a good idea. That list includes “You act maliciously, with the intent to cause unlawful damage or injury or with gross recklessness” as a reason for dismissal.
Free speech should be protected, as Marshall recognizes, but speech that is malicious is only rewarded and encouraged by those of us who cite First Amendment protections without including the responsibilities civilization requires.
Sources
"Traveling Anarchist of the Red-Haired Type." Rogue River Courier 8 July 1910 [Grants Pass Oregon] : 1. Historic Oregon Newspapers. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.. (This appeared as a JPR “As It Was” feature in 2020 written by Lynda Demsher)
City Council meeting of August 6 recording.
